Winding up the debate on an adjournment motion by MQM Senator Attique Sheikh regarding delay in the execution of Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project and the future consequences of importing costly LNG from Qatar, State Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Jam Kamal said that IP project was not facing delay due to US pressure but as a result of the international sanctions imposed on Iran.
After the sanctions of the US and Europe, around 200 companies have been penalized and their businesses have affected. "The assumption is also wrong that Iran had completed the project from its side," he said adding that Iran was far from completing the project from its side.
About TAPI Gas Pipeline Project, he said that there was no delay from the Pakistani side and it was moving ahead. He also claimed that Pakistan was not importing costly LNG from Qatar. He said work on Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline project, a consortium of four countries, is in full swing as it was one-point agenda during a recent visit of President Mamnoon Hussain to Turkmenistan.
Responding to a calling attention notice regarding discrepancy in the figures of census by Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Nasrin Jalil, Minister for Statistics Kamran Michael said Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) counted each and every individual of the country during recent census.
He said no boundary assessment has been carried out in Karachi since 1998 as only seven mozas were included in its urban area while in Lahore two tehsils of Kasur were urbanized and included in the city. "Several areas following a notification were included in Lahore city in 2015 and two tehsils of Kasur were also declared part of it. No such notification had been issued in case of Karachi," he added.
He said deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners were deputed as census commissioners in Karachi, who made efforts along with civilian departments and personnel of armed forces to complete the task. He rejected any discrepancy in figures released by the Statistics Department after completion of the census.
The senator once again expressed concern over the provisional results of the census, and the MQM members staged a token walkout from the house by declaring the response from the minister as unsatisfactory.
Responding to another calling attention notice by PPP's Sherry Rehman regarding a recent fire incident at Awami Markez in Islamabad that claimed two lives while the five-storey building was completely damaged, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that as per initial inquiry, the reason of fire was short-circuit.
He said that entire record of China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor is safe at its Secretariat in the Planning and Development Ministry, and the record of Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) are not something which could be made an issue out of non-issue as people go there seeking remedy regarding taxes.
"No crucial record got damaged in the fire. The final report will be submitted on September 21, while the Interior Ministry has issued orders to concerned authorities to undertake fire safety audit of all the high-rise buildings in the federal capital to avoid such incidents in future," he added.
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS After completing debate on President's address to the joint sitting of Parliament this year in June, the house passed a motion, expressing gratitude to President Mamnoon Hussain.
Winding up the debate, Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan said that President Hussain highlighted the successes of the government that it achieved in the war against terrorism after coming into power in 2013. "The achievement in economic and energy sectors coupled with the CPEC projects are some of the milestones of the present government which the President appreciated. He [President] also appreciated the achievements in the war against terrorism," he added.
However, the minister could not help praising the policies and the vision of the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who, according to him, put the country on the right track within a short span of four years.
He said that Sharif had to face disqualification as some quarters did not like his statesmanship, especially his bold decisions which he took regarding not sending the army to Yemen, and undertaking his first trip to China instead of going to the US after taking oath in 2013, as almost all leaders go to the US to please their masters in Washington.
"Sharif is the only leader who put the country on the right track and it was misfortune of the country that he was disqualified and his punishment is tantamount to punishing the country as he changed the destiny of the country, but history will remember the way he was treated just for taking the country to new heights," he concluded.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017